Author: Jordan

Jordan Kantey is an editor, writer and writing workshop facilitator. He’s been helping authors develop their stories for ten years. He achieved his Honours in English Literature with distinction from the University of Cape Town. He has had poems published in several journals and an anthology. He blogs about writing craft and process at Now Novel and loves to help aspiring authors reach their goals.

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He has been interviewed about his writing, editing and coaching on YouTube.
He has also shared his writing skills on sites such as Writers helping writers.
In addition, he served as a judge for a number of awards. These include Page Turner Young Writer Award as well as the Elegant Literature’s Behind the Veil’s contest for new writers.
He showcased his writing talents with a five-star rated writing guide, How to Write Scenes: A Concise Guide to Scene Structure, which is available on Amazon.

Articles on the Now Novel blog:

Finding ideas How to start a book

What are good topics for novels? 14 ways to find winners

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Whether you’re between projects or planning on writing your first book, there are many ways to decide what are good novel topics. Here are 14 ideas for how to find book topics:

How to start a book Narration

How to write story exposition that hooks readers fast

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‘Story exposition’ is often described as background, the necessary part to include so that readers know when, where and why your story takes place. Yet the exposition in a novel or short story is also an opportunity to entice, amuse, alarm and surprise your reader, foregrounding engaging themes and voices. Read on for a definition of effective exposition in literature plus examples taken from fantasy, historical fiction, speculative fiction and other genres

Tags narration, story exposition, writing hooks

Writing coaching Writing Process

How a novel writing coach helps you get better faster

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The benefits of coaching in athletics and business are well known. How does a novel writing coach help you write your story, though? Read on for eight insights into how coaching works, and why:

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Writing Process

Writing focus: 9 ways to improve yours

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When you’re writing, your focus isn’t ‘on’ every day of the week. Improve your writing focus so you can get to work and finish your story. Try these 9 strategies for the busy writer:

Tags writing focus, writing process

Interviews Romance Writing

Author interview: Writing historical romance with Fil Reid

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We chat to Now Novel member Fil Reid who recently won Dragonblade Publishing’s “The Write Stuff” contest about writing historical romance.

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Novel writing tips Now Novel

Tips when writing a book: Top 10 from Now Novel’s webinars

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Many tips to remember to when writing a book are shared in writing seminars, interviews, critique circles and webinars around the world. Here are ten curated from Now Novel’s monthly writing webinars where authors from 5 continents come together to discuss writing craft:

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Writing Motivation Writing Process

Your goals in writing: 10 ideas to keep them

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Keeping to your goals in writing is hard. Maybe balancing creative ‘me’ time and office time grew harder while working from home. Or you commute a lot. Or you have young children who require the lion’s share of your focus. Sticking to your goals is easier with SMART, quantitative goals. Here are ten ideas to help you keep to yours:

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Interviews Now Novel success stories

Author interview: Joe Byrd – Monet & writing historical fiction

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We chat to author and Now Novel Coaching member Joe Byrd, who discusses his debut historical novel about the French Impressionist painter, Claude Monet. We chat about researching and writing about historical figures, the genesis of his book Monet & Oscar: The Essence of Light, and the experience of working with a coach and editor.

Tags historical fiction, interviews

Scene writing Writing Process

How to organize story scenes (plus scene structure template)

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Understanding how to organize story scenes will help you to draft scenes with an underlying sense of purpose and focus. Learn how to use Now Novel’s Scene Builder to create your own scene structure template that is flexible and custom-made for your story:

Tags how to write scenes, Story planning, writing process

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